Jaundice is a very common condition in newborns; that's when a baby's skin and the whites of his eyes take on a yellowish tinge due to excess bilirubin in his blood. When your baby's body breaks down red blood cells, it produces bilirubin. Normally, the bilirubin passes through the liver and is whisked out of the body through the intestines. But in newborns, bilirubin can build up faster than the liver can break it down. A baby's body is turning over red blood cells faster than an adult's body does, and the baby's liver might not yet have perfected its removal process. And so the baby's skin and eyes can start to look yellow.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all infants be examined for jaundice every eight to 12 hours in the hospital after birth. Your baby's doctor will also take a teeny sample of your baby's blood, likely from his heel, and he will probably scream like his toenails are being pulled off. The doctor then will check the bilirubin level in your baby's blood.

Mild jaundice usually resolves on its own. But if a baby has high levels of bilirubin, he'll be treated with a special light to help his body get rid of the excess bilirubin. Mothers of infants with jaundice might also be urged to breastfeed more frequently, because this will help the baby pass more bilirubin in his stool.

Here's what our Mommy M.D.s — doctors who are also mothers — do to treat their own babies' jaundice.

"My first baby was jaundiced, and that was the reason I went to medical school!" says Hana R. Solomon, M.D., a mom of four and grandmom of eight, the author of "Clearing the Air One Nose at a Time: Caring for Your Personal Filter" and a pediatrician in Columbia, Missouri. "After my son was born, we went home, and three days later I noticed that his skin was very yellow. I took him to our country doctor, who sent us to the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital, the nurses stripped my baby naked and took him away from me, with hardly any explanation at all. They put my son into a 'light box,' which was the treatment for jaundice at the time, and when I asked where I could pump breast milk, they showed me to a broom closet with a pull-chain light. That was my introduction to 'real' medicine. At that moment, I realized that I could care for people better than that. And that's when I decided to become a doctor."

"Now I know that full-term breastfed babies are at very low risk of developing any complications from high bilirubin levels," Dr. Solomon continues. "Hydration and exposure to sunlight is what I recommend for my patients, along with close monitoring. Taking the baby away from Mom and placing him in a light box for three days is not therapeutic for anyone."

"My third baby came home from the hospital with a borderline-high bilirubin level," says Kristie McNealy, M.D., a mom of four and a healthcare consultant in Salt Lake City, Utah. "When the pediatrician rechecked it the next day, the level was so high that we had to put him under lights at home for the next five days. I was very thankful that we could use the at-home treatment."

"I had to deal with jaundice in all three of my children," says Stacey Weiland, M.D., a mom of three and a gastroenterologist in Denver, Colorado. "While it completely freaked me out with my first child, it definitely seemed much more manageable in my third child."

"I distinctly remember that when my daughter was born, my mother commented on her perfect 'peaches and cream' complexion and that she was so beautiful," Dr. Weiland adds. "Within the first one to two days, however, my baby's complexion seemed to be less rosy and more pale. I have to say that I really did not notice that her skin or eyes were yellow, and that I was majorly floored when I was told that her total bilirubin was extremely high. (And here I was a new gastroenterology/hepatology fellow, specializing in diseases of the liver!) Treatment of neonatal jaundice includes maintaining adequate hydration with frequent nursing and/or formula, and light therapy, also known as phototherapy. Several forms of phototherapy are available. All of my kids required frequent rechecks of their bilirubin levels, which peaked and then dropped in less than a week."

When to Call Your Doctor

If you notice your baby's skin color changing, call the doctor. Jaundice generally appears during a baby's second or third day of life. It begins at the baby's head and spreads down, so you'll spot the yellowing first on a baby's face and eyes.

Jennifer Bright is a mom of four sons, co-founder and CEO of family- and veteran- owned custom publisher Momosa Publishing, co-founder of the Mommy MD Guides team of 150+ mommy M.D.s, and co-author of "The Mommy MD Guide to the Toddler Years." She lives in Hellertown, Pennsylvania. To find out more about Jennifer Bright and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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